MICHAEL looks forward to this weekend's League Cup Final and explains why both clubs desperately need a trophy win to take them forward.

CAN’T sleep. Can’t sit still. Knees knocking and hands shaking. Feel like a kid at Christmas one minute then a lad on the ghost train the next.

Work has been a complete write-off. The boss is talking but there’s no sound coming out and he seems to have morphed into a big, silver, sparkly pot with ribbons on.

If you’re suffering from any of the above symptoms, don’t panic. It’s just cup final fever.

Fans of every club get it, apart from Celtic and Rangers punters whose symptoms consist of merely a mild feeling on entitlement.

For everyone else, fever kicks in when there’s a hint of silverware but a particularly violent strain of the virus has struck Aberdeen and Inverness.

There’s a sense that these two teams don’t just want this League Cup – they need it.

Inverness have come a long way in 20 years but it hasn’t been easy since the merger of two bitter Highland League rivals. Some locals have never bought in to it.

The early intrigue of climbing the leagues and becoming an established top-flight club has got them a foothold in the community. But they need a symbol of success and a pot on the sideboard could be the catalyst for Caley Thistle.

There are still too many Rangers fans in Sneckie and too many Celtic strips in the streets, while Ross County can lay claim to most of the surrounds. There’s even a huge Aberdeen following because the Dons were the closest senior side for 90 years.

It takes time to become part of a city’s DNA but a cup win would drill deep into the fabric of Inverness. As for Aberdeen, it will take more than a couple of Paracetamol and a hot toddie to cure their symptoms. The rush for tickets has been incredible. Pittodrie Street has looked like a One Direction gig for middle-aged men.

The queues snaking outside the stadium have been ridiculous and to sell 40,000 tickets is staggering.

Put it this way, there was a record 146,433 clothed-capped folk at Hampden for the Scottish Cup Final with Celtic in 1937 – and there still weren’t as many Dandies on Mount Florida that day as there will be at Parkhead this weekend.

The Red Army don’t just hope to win – they are aching.

There are large chunks of Dons punters who have known nothing but misery and embarrassment.

Aberdeen became the 80s pin-up girl who let herself go, had a ton of plastic surgery and ended up with a face like a melted wellie.

But the transformation under Derek McInnes has been remarkable. The Dons are bonnie again They are on the cusp of something special but must take that first giant leap.

One thing for sure is that this cup fever is infectious. Even this cynical Weegie hack has been hit with trophyitis – with a hint of Sophie’s Choice.